Snuff

“Snuff” is a power ballad by American heavy metal band Slipknot. Released as the fifth single from their fourth album All Hope Is Gone on September 28, 2009, the song charted at number two on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, their highest charted single to date, surpassing “Dead Memories”. It was not included in the All Hope Is Gone World Tour setlist but the band performed the song live at the October 11, 2009 performance in Kennewick, Washington.

Roadrunner Records placed “Snuff” at No. 6 for its greatest music videos of all time. The song was also nominated for Best Single at the Kerrang! Awards 2010, but lost to “Liquid Confidence” by You Me at Six.

It is the final single released from the band before the death of their bassist, Paul Gray who died just eight months after its release, and also the final single release before Joey Jordison leaves the band four years later. During recent Stone Sour shows, Corey Taylor has performed an acoustic version of Snuff as a tribute to Paul Gray.

“Snuff”, “Wait and Bleed”, “Left Behind”, and “Pulse of the Maggots” were released as downloadable songs in the Rock Band series.

Music video
It was announced on October 14, 2009 by Roadrunner Records that a music video fit within enough production quality to be considered a short film was to be released for “Snuff”, which premiered on December 18, 2009. It was co-directed by Shawn “Clown” Crahan and P. R. Brown, and features Malcolm McDowell and Ashley Laurence of Hellraiser fame. Corey Taylor is seen for the third time in a Slipknot video without his mask (the other two times being: “Dead Memories” and “Before I Forget”) and is cross-dressed at the end of the short film.